Telecom Egypt and Jordan’s NaiTel have completed the Coral Bridge subsea cable, establishing the first direct digital link between the two countries in more than 25 years, as reported by Techpoint Africa on August 26.
The 15-kilometre system is expected to support Egypt’s role as a global connectivity hub linking Africa, Asia, and Europe. It runs across the Gulf of Aqaba, stretching from Taba, Egypt, to Aqaba, Jordan. Equipped with 48 fibre pairs, the cable can handle over one petabit of traffic, enabling faster cloud computing, artificial intelligence applications, and digital services at lower costs and with reduced latency.
On the Egyptian side, Coral Bridge becomes the first cable to land at Telecom Egypt’s new Taba station, part of a wider expansion of digital infrastructure in Sinai. In Jordan, the system connects directly to the Aqaba Digital Hub’s Tier III carrier-neutral facility, providing businesses and hyperscalers with improved backup and disaster recovery options.
Executives from both operators explained that the new system is more than just an infrastructure project. Eyad Abu Khorma, CEO of Aqaba Digital Hub, described Coral Bridge as a “strategic asset” that strengthens Jordan’s market access and underpins one of the largest data centres in the MENA region. Mohamed Nasr, CEO of Telecom Egypt, said the cable will “aggregate regional traffic” and route it through Egypt’s diverse Mediterranean gateways.
Telecom Egypt has also expanded landing stations and partnered with Google, Microsoft, and other hyperscalers to anchor their subsea systems.
The launch occurs amid a surge in subsea cable investment across Africa, including Google’s Equiano and Umoja projects, Meta’s 2Africa system, and the Asia-Africa-Europe-2 (AAE-2) initiative.
Analysts say the surge in cable investment is transforming Africa into one of the busiest frontiers for international Internet infrastructure, with Egypt positioned at its core.
Egypt and Jordan maintain strong economic ties, with mutual investments spanning energy, ICT, and infrastructure. Jordanian firms are active in Egypt’s pharmaceutical, tourism, and financial sectors, while Egyptian companies invest in Jordan’s construction, manufacturing, and transport projects.
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